Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 76 Aftermath

Pong!

The silver bullet traveled several meters and accurately pierced the clown in the tuxedo's neck, causing large gushes of blood to flow out, staining his skin and bow tie red.

The clown in the tuxedo couldn't scream; he could only make a gurgling sound in his throat. He tried to raise his hand to move away the fatal wound, but his shoulder and elbow joints felt as if they were filled with glue, making his movements stiff and slow.

Pong!

Klein, who was in a semi-meditative state, was not frightened by the blood and pulled the trigger again, as calmly as if he were doing his daily practice.

A grotesque hole suddenly appeared on the clown's forehead, from which crimson blood gushed out, dimming the light in his eyes. The power of that exquisite revolver was much stronger than Klein had anticipated.

With knees bent and arms hanging down, the clown in the tuxedo slowly fell to the ground, his eyes filled with nothing but blankness.

His body twitched a few times, then slowly relaxed, and there was no further movement.

With a single shot, Klein coolly turned around, shook the cylinder, and let the empty cartridge cases fall to the ground one by one.

Then, dressed in a black suit and wearing a top silk hat, he walked toward Al Hassen, taking out the last silver demon hunter bullet from his pocket and inserting the slender bullet into the magazine.

The reason he didn't look back at the clown in the tuxedo was purely because of the discomfort of killing for the first time, but he had no choice but to kill him, as he had no idea what would happen to the other person after he was completely controlled by the puppet.

Moreover, he didn't want to risk entering the area of ​​influence of the sealed artifact "2-049" again, since no one could say for sure whether strange changes would occur this time, rendering the "transfer ritual" ineffective.

As for the items on the clown in the tuxedo, Klein only cared about whether there was the so-called "clown" potion recipe or any related clues. But this wasn't something that needed to be done in a hurry. He could do it with Dunn, El, and the others later. If the Night Watch team got it, it would be almost the same as them getting it. They couldn't possibly be reluctant to part with a Sequence 8 potion recipe. At worst, they could just spend more time accumulating merit. Anyway, they had only been "diviners" for a short time and were still a long way from "digesting" it.

As his thoughts raced, Klein strode over to Al Hassen, the gentleman in a grey overcoat who struggled to sit up several times but failed each time, falling down and getting covered in mud and dust.

"Mr. Hassen, is there anything I can do for you?" He crouched down and asked, pointing the revolver diagonally at the ground to prevent accidental firing.

El took a breath and sighed:

"That monster is too strong. If it weren't for its weakness..."

At this point, he pointed to a small, sky-blue metal bottle beside him and said with a self-deprecating laugh:

"I meant to take the medicine, but my hand trembled..."

That day, the small blue metal vial was about the thickness of Klein's thumb and no more than five centimeters tall. The cap, with its hidden spiral pattern, lay to one side, completely soaked with liquid.

Klein reached for the small bottle, squinted at it, and replied helplessly:

"Mr. Hassen, there are only a few drops left on the bottle."

"Go... look on Borgia, inside, in the inside pocket." El said, panting heavily.

"Okay." Klein stood up and casually asked, "Is this a healing potion?"

Items from the mystical side?

"No, it only has a certain therapeutic effect. Mainly, it mainly stimulates our spirit and squeezes out our body's...potential, allowing us to maintain a good state for a short time, to hold on until we return, to hold on until we accept, to accept treatment." El tried to sit up, but failed again. "Its name is, 'The Goddess's Gaze'...Remember to have Borgia drink half of the potion."

Klein didn't delay any longer. He turned around, walked quickly to the side of the groaning Borgia, and took the standard sky-blue metal vial from the half-conscious night watchman's arms.

He unscrewed the cap and carefully brought the bottle opening to Borgia's lips.

Borgia sensed something and tried to open his lips.

The bottle tilted, and the dark red liquid flowed into Borgia's mouth.

After estimating the amount, Klein stopped in time and screwed the cap back on.

The potion seemed to be working really well. A few seconds after Borgia swallowed it, the light in his eyes returned, and he spoke in a low, hoarse voice:

"Thanks."

After saying that, he propped himself up with his hands, slowly sat up, treated his own injuries first, and then walked over to the unconscious Lolota and Dunn, taking out "The Gaze of the Goddess" from the latter's inner pocket.

Klein then returned to El's side and fed him the remaining half-bottle of the potion.

El gasped for breath, then suddenly became agile, standing up as if he had never been injured.

"I'll go help Borgia, you take care of your companion." The charming middle-aged man gestured to Leonard Mitchell.

Klein had no objection, turned around, and jogged over to "Poet" Leonard.

"No need, I can drink it myself." Leonard, with his messy hair hanging down, smiled and held up the small sky-blue metal bottle in his hand.

Seeing the other person push themselves up nimbly, Klein, who was about to complain inwardly, suddenly froze:

Leonard's injury is less serious than I expected...

He has the ability to take the medicine from the very beginning!

In other words, he may have seen my "luck-changing ritual" of walking four steps counterclockwise!

No, this is alright. My thoughts were all in my mind, and the "luck-changing ritual" didn't show any unusual outward signs. Otherwise, the tuxedo clown wouldn't have fallen for it...

Even so, Leonard, who had already recovered but chose to remain on the sidelines, must have witnessed quite a few things, such as, "I wasn't affected by '2-049,' and I ambushed the Joker in the tuxedo..."

Just as Klein's eyes narrowed slightly, Leonard, who was approaching from the opposite direction, stopped beside him and chuckled softly, looking straight ahead:

"I wanted to save you, but I realized you didn't need to."

"Don't worry about it. There are many special people in this world who can always do things that others can't, like you..."

"...For example, me." Leonard's lips curled up as he walked past Klein toward the awakened Dunn and Loretta.

"Narcissist..." Klein muttered to himself, feeling much more relaxed.

It seems Leonard Mitchell is hiding quite a few secrets... He thoughtfully rejoined the main force, watching as Captain Dunn put on gloves and picked up the Antigonus family notebook stained with tan and blood.

The cover of the notebook was made entirely of dark black cardboard, exuding an ancient and timeless aura. It showed no signs of softening or decay, almost exactly like the one Klein had seen in his dream, to the point that he began to suspect that opening it would reveal a fool wearing a dazzling headdress.

But he soon realized he was overthinking it, because Dunn carefully opened his notebook to make a final check.

Klein couldn't see the words clearly from his poor angle, but he was certain that there were no fools dressed in fancy clothes and wearing dazzling headdresses among them.

"Cough, no problem." Dunn closed his notebook and gripped it tightly, then looked at El and the others and said, "For the next few days, store it together with the sealed item '2-049' behind the Charis Gate in Tingen City until you recover, or until Backlund sends someone over."

Hearing this, Klein felt both disappointed and relieved. He wanted to read the Antigonus family notes again to find out the cause of death of the original owner, Welch, and Naya, but he also felt that this ancient item was full of misfortune and always brought disaster, so he dared not touch it.

Handing it over to the church headquarters and sealing it tightly was the best option... He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay." El Hassen, Borgia, and Lorota nodded to each other, then turned around and came to the sealed artifact "2-049".

They woke each other up, stuffed the puppet, which had somehow regained its movement, back into the cracked, black iron box, and kept a close watch on it.

"Everything is normal." El's tone was more relaxed.

Inside the dimly lit, iron-black box, the puppet wrapped in oil-stained cloth creaked and rolled over, bringing its clown-painted face to the light source.

On this eerie face, beneath the pure black, pupil-less eyes, two tiny, dark red cracks appeared, barely noticeable.

Meanwhile, Dunn, Leonard, and a courageous Klein searched the tuxedo clown's body, finding all sorts of strange items such as paper flowers, handkerchiefs, playing cards, and shards of glass.

However, apart from that, the other party did not bring anything of value or that could provide any clues.

Well, except for wallets with seven or eight pounds or a dozen sulphurs... Klein sighed quietly.

The thought of money immediately made him lower his head, scrutinize himself, and his face almost fell.

His suit, worth several pounds, had five or six patches that needed mending from the tumbling, and was covered in dirt and dust.

Dunn glanced at him, a subtle smirk playing on his lips, and said:

"All losses incurred during the mission are reimbursable."

Reimbursement… Hearing this word, "invented" by Emperor Roselle, Klein's mood instantly brightened:

Well, with a proper cleaning and some repairs, this suit can still be worn and is still presentable enough...

Once the reimbursement is received, I can buy another set, creating a rotation system!

Well, I'm not the kind of person who misappropriates reimbursement funds...

However, we'll have to consider "combat attire" from now on, like the black trench coat the captain wears... If the material is slightly inferior, it'll be much cheaper than a tuxedo... Hmm, Leonard has never liked wearing formal attire, is that something he's considering...?

"Let Fry handle the body and see if he can identify his original appearance and find any relevant clues." Dunn touched the clown's face paint with his gloved hand.

Afterwards, they searched the innermost warehouse and found several clumps of flesh and blood, crushed by boulders, and scattered white, broken bones everywhere.

"Ryle Bieber is probably absorbing the power contained in the notebook through an ancient ritual, just like when we directly consume a high-grade sequence potion. This is fraught with danger, requires an undisturbed environment, and a certain amount of time to sleep. This should be the reason why he hasn't left Tingen yet." Dunn examined it and guessed the possibility.

Upon hearing this description, the black-haired woman, Lolota, gave a pale laugh:

"What a pity, we woke him up early, and his anger upon waking up was truly unforgettable."

"This is one form of loss of control," Dunn said to Klein, half explaining and half instructing.

"Then why doesn't he just leave Tingen and try to absorb it elsewhere?" Klein asked, puzzled.

Al Hassen smiled and pointed to his head, saying:

"Those influenced by ancient or evil forces are often not very useful here."

At this moment, Dunn took a breath and said, with a hint of pain in his voice:

"Leonard, you're alright. Stay here and don't let ordinary people get close... A few of us will immediately collect Riel Bieber's remnants, take them and the sealed artifacts, as well as the Antigonus family's notes, back, and get Fry, Loyal, and the police here."

(End of this chapter)